Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Where to start? I guess, with the food, since this is a food blog, right?

This is a quickie recipe that I whipped up a few weeks ago. We had some ground turkey hanging out in the freezer, like it does, and I wanted something different. Burgers are always welcome, but a little variety is nice. A look in the pantry turned up a jar of Trader Joe’s pesto. Bingo! One easy recipe, coming up!

Note: We had two 3/4 pound packages of farm fresh ground turkey (one white, and one dark meat) that we combined to make these. The farm fresh meat is very moist, so we added bread crumbs. If your ground turkey doesn’t seem extra moist, you can skip the bread crumbs. Bottom line--the patties should hold together, so you be the judge.

Mix all of the burger ingredients (except the things for the pesto mayo) in a medium bowl and form into patties. (We got 8 for this amount) Cook in a hot pan with a little heated olive oil, or grill for about 4 minutes per side. For the pesto mayo, just eyeball the amounts until you get it to your liking. Add any additional toppings you like.

And now, some shots from around NH. These are some taken at Odiorne Point State Park, in Rye, NH. We love visiting here, and we’re out at the coast all the time, anyway. The park has the Seacoast Science Center, which is full of exhibits featuring the local wildlife. The building itself is built on and encompasses the home originally built on the land in the 1600’s. Here is a bit of history about Odiorne Point from NhStateParks.com:

HistoryIn the dense growth of shrubs and vines, covering much of the park's 330 acres, remnants of Odiorne's past silently remain. Reminders of other eras and stark contrasts; idyllic summer estates and gaunt reminders of coastal fortifications. In terms of man and his settlement of this coastal land, Odiorne Point remained a true wilderness until almost 400 years ago. During summer migrations Native Americans of Pennacook and Abnaki tribes visited the area which they called Pannaway. Permanent settlement began in the 1600s.

In 1623 an agent of England's Council for New England cameto fish and trade in the New World. David Thomson journeyed to New England on the ship Jonathan to establish the first New Hampshire settlement at what would become Odiorne Point. Many others followed, and the original settlement grew and spread along the coast and up the river.

John Odiorne joined the settlement in 1660. He acquired several acres of land from the shoreline west into the marshes beyond. Like the others, he farmed and fished. The Odiornes remained on the property for several generations, always a part of the continuing changes in the Odiorne Point community.

By the 1700s the settlement was well established, but the governing and trading activities had moved north into the deep harbor area of Strawberry Banke (now Portsmouth). The farms of Odiorne Point helped to feed the burgeoning port of Portsmouth for about 150 years.

After the Civil War farming gradually gave way to a colony of hotels and large summer homes. Generations of families spent their summers by the sea. In this era of large seaside resorts, a grand hotel called the Sagamore House was built on the property. Over the years smaller parcels of land were sold for summer homes and estates. Formal gardens and tree-lined drives ornamented the properties. By the late 1930s seventeen families lived on Odiorne Point, including an eighth generation descendent of John Odiorne and the last of the Odiornes to live on the ancestral homestead.

World War II (WWII) brought drastic changes to the landscape and to the lives of these people who loved their land by the sea. In 1942 the federal government purchased all the property from Little Harbor to the Sunken Forest, as well as the adjacent marshland. Within a month the Odiornes and their neighbors were gone.

Military structures were quickly built to house personnel, armaments and supplies. Massive concrete casements, often called bunkers, were constructed and camouflaged with thick vegetation. Because of their open aspect to the sea, many of the estates were demolished, and Route 1A was closed. Odiorne Point became known as Fort Dearborn, and for nearly twenty years, was part of the chain of coastal defenses that protected Portsmouth Harbor and the naval shipyard. In the late 1950s Fort Dearborn was declared surplus property. It was sold to the state of New Hampshire for $91,000 in 1961.

My dad grew up on the coast, and his father had the chance to buy a very large, very gorgeous home that is still there today, for $5,000.00. Everyone back then thought the homes on the coast would be destroyed. Thankfully, they weren’t. But sadly, my grandfather didn’t buy the house!

And here are a few more photos from our trip up the the White Mountains yesterday. There’s a couple of vista shots, and a few of only the second time in my life to see a moose up close. We almost didn’t take the Kancamagus Highway to cut through the mountains, but I’m glad we did. This “little” guy was hanging out on the side of the road! I was able to get right in front of him, and then he crossed the road and went by just a few feet from us. Being a city girl, this was very exciting!

Great idea to put the pesto into the meat mixture--I usually just spread it on the bun. I also recommend putting a glob of cheese inside each burger. It tends to infuse the whole thing with its flavor.

Skip the food I came here for pesky moose and squirrel. Wait that sounds mean but I know you can cook and I know the burgers are rocking but moose (yeah I can be impressed by any shiny object)!!!!!!

Funny you mention the cheap house that was turned down because we were talking about something similar last weekend at the lake. The lots use to go for 10k back in the 70s and my buddies parents almost bought a couple. Now the land alone with a tear down house is worth over 500k. Yeah they are kicking themselves to this day.

Drool! I've been in the mood for a boi-gah and did just purchase some turkey sausage. Not quite burger material, but you never know, right? Cool info -- we were headed to the EC for a road trip this summer but then The Job happened, so scratch that. I was looking forward to all the historical sites.